The 2015 Northern Home & Cottage Home Tour takes place on Saturday, September 19 from 10 am to 5 pm. The tour treats tourgoers to 12 homes, each chosen for their distinctive style and/or innovative lifestyle concept. Proceeds raised during the home tour will benefit Northern Michigan non-profit, Child and Family Services of Northwestern Michigan. Save by purchasing tickets to the 2015 Northern Home & Cottage Home Tour at MyNorthTickets.com:
The seventh and eighth stops on the 2015 Northern Home & Cottage Home Tour are in Traverse City at Cordia at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, 600 Cottageview Drive, private residence 153 & 334.
With their gallant red spires, unexpected curves and arches and throw-your-braid-over balconies, the 19th-century Victorian Italianate buildings at the Grand Traverse Commons feel enchanted. Traverse City has watched, entranced, as the Minervini Group has transformed this historic former state hospital campus into The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a high-end residential community surrounded by boutiques, eateries, wineries and trails.
The heart of the development is Building 50—a four-and five-story labyrinth that stretches a quarter-mile through the campus and adds up to a total 386,740 square feet of architecturally brilliant space. Until 2010 the north end sat vacant, looking more and more forlorn as the south end became a hive of cool.
That was the year Karen Anderson heard about the village. Karen is the founder and CEO of Cordia, a small, innovative and experienced organization devoted to creating meaningful lifestyle opportunities for people over 55. She lives in Boston and had never heard of Traverse City—but she did her research, and was blown away about what she found out about The Village at the Grand Traverse Commons. Fast forward several years to the buzz and whirr of jackhammers and sandblasters unleashed to renovate the southern end of Building 50 into the Senior Residential Club at Grand Traverse Commons.
The finished project is 110 private residences—92 of which have a unique design and layout—and 30,000 square feet of gracious common area. Residences, ranging from studios to one and two bedrooms, are leased for an all-inclusive monthly fee that includes weekly housekeeping, one meal per day and access to the club’s common spaces. Counted in that public space are an upscale restaurant presided over by Michael Bauer—a chef known in Traverse City for his farm-to-table ethic—a pub, a bar and a lovely outdoor patio with a fire ring. The club abounds with mind and soul-fulfilling opportunities from art classes led by one of Cordia’s three artists-in-residences to concerts and informational talks.
Of course, the many amenities of the Village of Grand Traverse—Spanglish for Latin food, Higher Grounds Coffee, Left Foot Charley Winery, Underground Cheesecake—are just a short walk away. And if Cordia residents don’t feel like going outside, they can walk through carpeted halls all the way to the other end of Building 50 to shopping the Mercato (Italian for marketplace), dine at one of two fine Italian restaurants and much more.
Tourgoers on the 2015 Northern Home & Cottage Home Tour will learn much more about what Cordia offers. They will also be treated to tours of two of the private residences. The basic interior design of both units is by Anne Webb Johnson of Wellesley Interior Design in Massachusetts—who is also responsible for the sophisticated public space interiors.
Johnson outfitted the units with granite countertops, custom ceramic tile showers and cherry cabinetry. The plush carpeting is from Mohawk’s Aladdin collection, color Sand Dollar.
The smart urban furnishings in each residence are by Scott Shuptrine Interiors (a 4500-square-foot gallery located inside Petoskey’s Art Van Furniture) and include Scott’s private label upholstery, American Leather, Bernhardt, Century, Drexel Heritage and Hooker furniture. Finishing touches are a mix of John Richard and Ralph Lauren accessories and Momeni area rugs. The residences can be purchased furnished.
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